Chapter 1

Autumn in North City began with the sky itself displaying its comfort and ease.

The clear blue heavens reflected off the glass curtain walls of the office buildings, while white clouds drifted slowly through the grid-like offices, making time itself seem to slow down.

But the discussion in the break room over afternoon tea was anything but calm.

“Did you hear? The media photographed President Si on a date with the Jiang family’s daughter last night.”

“You mean Jiang Chengyin, the Jiang heiress who just returned to the country?”

“That’s right. Rumor says Jiang Chengyin is President Si’s first love. They studied together at Stanford and have supposedly been secretly married for years.”

“What? Secretly married?” The girl holding instant coffee gasped. After the shock faded, her expression turned thoughtful. “I kind of suspected before that the little princess’s mother might be her.”

President Si was only thirty this year, yet he already had a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Mrs. Si had always been a mystery—no one had ever seen her. The little princess, however, had appeared once before. That day President Si had still been working overtime, and his special assistant had brought the child to wait in the president’s office. The little girl had rosy lips, white teeth, and big round eyes. With a face that resembled President Si by at least fifty percent, she was beautiful like a porcelain doll.

Thinking back on it now, everyone gossiping in the break room seemed to confirm something.

“Now that you mention it, the little princess really does resemble Jiang Chengyin a bit.”

A colleague nudged the silent woman beside her. “Manager Lin, have you ever seen our little princess? President Si’s daughter.”

Someone else answered before Lin Ke could speak. “Manager Lin hasn’t been here that long. How could she possibly have seen the little princess?”

Lin Ke calmly finished the last sip of coffee and smiled faintly. “I’ve seen her. She doesn’t look like her.”

She washed her cup, refilled it with warm water, and returned to her desk, preparing to start the afternoon’s work.

Two weeks ago, her supervisor had sent her a new project, saying a major company needed a Russian translation team. It was in the financial field she specialized in, and they had asked whether she wanted to take it.

Only after receiving the documents did she discover it was Entropy Domain Group.

She hadn’t refused. Over the past two years, Si Yuming’s focus had been on the branch office in Shencheng. He rarely returned to North City throughout the year, so the chances of the two of them running into each other were extremely low.

Lin Ke opened the foreign-language contract waiting to be translated on her computer. As she scrolled the mouse, her thoughts inevitably drifted far away.

They had been married for over four years, following the wishes of their elders. Yet she and Si Yuming spent more time apart than together, sometimes not seeing each other for an entire month. Their only real connection was their daughter, Si Xiaotie. If Si Xiaotie didn’t constantly insist on video calling her father, the two of them would barely even speak on the phone.

A late-night date with the Jiang heiress?

She didn’t know.

Their social circle had always been messy. Based on the gossip she’d heard, it wouldn’t seem strange at all if he had someone else during the two years he’d spent in Shencheng—especially someone like Jiang Chengyin, who had once studied alongside him.

Someone approached from behind. Lin Ke stopped her wandering thoughts and shook her head, brushing away the inexplicable distrust in her mind.

“Sister Ke, the president’s office just sent over the Russian company’s financial reports for this collaboration with Entropy Domain again. They hope we can finish them within the next two days.”

“Okay. Split the work with Xi Yue.”

Ma Chanchan had barely taken two steps before Lin Ke’s clear, elegant voice sounded again.

“Chanchan, tomorrow they’ll be holding their first online meeting with Moscow. They need a consecutive interpreter. Do you want to do it?”

Ma Chanchan had only graduated from the Foreign Languages University this year. Although she had taken on many part-time jobs before, her lack of experience still made her hesitate.

“Sister Ke… I…”

Lin Ke softened her voice. “Don’t be afraid. I’ll be beside you.”

Under her encouraging and gentle gaze, Ma Chanchan gradually relaxed. “Okay… I’ll try.”

“Go prepare, then.”

Back at her desk, Ma Chanchan secretly glanced again at the woman already immersed in work not far away.

Back in school, their teachers had always loved mentioning their star students, and Lin Ke had been the senior most frequently praised. They had all seen her notes and videos long ago during class.

After joining the company, Ma Chanchan had been pleasantly surprised to discover that this admired senior was actually her supervisor. And after following her through an international conference interpretation session, she had become completely convinced.

In their profession, one translation was enough to reveal whether someone was truly good or not.

Without exaggeration, Lin Ke was better than any senior interpreter or teacher she had ever met. Her calmness under pressure and extraordinary professional ability were displayed to perfection.

Ma Chanchan had actually been very curious why someone of Lin Ke’s caliber would settle for a commercial translation company like theirs. With her abilities, she could easily thrive on a much larger stage.

Later, she learned from colleagues that Lin Ke had gotten married and had a baby immediately after graduate school, delaying her career for nearly two years before finally returning to work.

Ma Chanchan found it a pity, but she also felt that their company surely wouldn’t be Lin Ke’s final destination.

Quietly, she encouraged herself in her heart. She wanted to work hard—hard enough to become an outstanding translator like Sister Ke someday.

At four o’clock, she brought over the annotated documents. Lin Ke was already packing up her things to leave.

“I’ll look at them tonight. I need to head out now.”

They were a specially hired translation team, so their working hours were flexible. Ma Chanchan guessed, “Sister Ke, are you going to pick up your baby from school?”

“Mhm.” Lin Ke glanced at the time once more and hurried outside.

Kindergarten ended at four-thirty. If she left now, she would arrive just in time. Today was Si Xiaotie’s first day of school. That morning, she had promised her daughter she would be the first one there to pick her up after class. She couldn’t break her promise.

The elevator descended from the top floor. After waiting for a while, it finally arrived on the twenty-third floor. The moment the doors opened, Lin Ke froze in place.

Inside the elevator stood the man she hadn’t seen for half a month.

His custom-made suit fit his tall, lean frame perfectly. The sharp lines of his shoulders and neck, along with his crisp shirt, were just like the man himself—cold and cutting.

Their gazes met.

The nearly pure dark-brown pupils in his eyes contracted slightly. Lin Ke lowered her eyes and avoided his gaze.

There was surprise in his eyes too, probably because he hadn’t expected her to appear here.

When the elevator chimed, she quickly stepped inside and automatically moved to the corner.

The doors closed. Not long after, a long arm reached past her and pressed the button for the twentieth floor.

“Xu Lin, go back up and get my watch from the drawer.”

The warm, clear voice came from behind her.

Xu Lin was his newly changed assistant and still didn’t know about their relationship. Hearing the order, he respectfully acknowledged it and stepped out on the twentieth floor.

Once the elevator doors closed again, the cramped space became even more suffocating. His mere presence seemed to lower the air pressure around them.

Only when she unconsciously clenched her hand into a fist did a low voice sound behind her ear.

“What are you doing here?” After asking, he immediately understood. “Your team was hired?”

Lin Ke nodded. “Yes.”

“Where are you going?”

“To pick up the baby from school.”

Si Yuming frowned slightly and lifted his wrist to glance at his watch, confirming that today was the first Monday of September—the day Si Xiaotie officially started kindergarten.

He knew about it, but work had been too busy lately for him to return, and he hadn’t received any reminder message from her either.

Si Yuming looked at the straight, slender back before him. After a moment of silence, he said gently, “I’ll stop by the old residence first tonight before heading back to Qingyun Road.”

Ever since Old Master Si passed away, they had moved out of the family estate. Qingyun Road No. 2 was the new marital home he had purchased. For the first three years, the family of three had lived there together, but…

The elevator stopped at the eighth floor. Before the doors opened, Lin Ke quickly said, “We moved near Xiaotie’s kindergarten. I’ll send you the address later.”

The doors opened, and two chatting coworkers outside immediately stopped talking when they saw the man inside. After politely greeting him, they entered the elevator.

The atmosphere fell silent once more.

Fortunately, it only took a little over ten seconds to reach the underground parking level.

Lin Ke walked away first. Once inside her car, she sent him the new address along with a brief explanation.

【The move was decided in a hurry. And with your company’s project these past two weeks, I’ve been too busy and forgot to tell you.】

He replied quickly.

【Okay.】

Even after several years of marriage, they still felt like strangers—separated by an invisible distance, never truly close.

Lin Ke had gradually grown used to this state of affairs. Her life was practically no different from being single.

She stared at the screen for a while before putting her phone away and driving off.

…

She was still delayed a little. By the time she arrived at the kindergarten, the entrance was already crowded with parents.

Children carrying tiny backpacks stood in neat lines inside the schoolyard, obediently waiting for their teachers to call them.

Through the railing, Lin Ke easily spotted her daughter chatting with other children. Whatever she was saying seemed animated, her hands spread wide with exaggerated expressions. Her two little braids swung from side to side, and her tiny body resembled a freshly baked sweet bun wrapped in a fluffy goose-yellow coat—soft, warm, fragrant, and irresistibly adorable, making people want to take a bite out of her.

Worried that her daughter might struggle on her first day of school, Lin Ke had kept checking the parents’ group chat all morning. She held onto her phone constantly, terrified of missing a call from the teacher.

But there had been none.

Other children in the group cried and fussed nonstop, but Si Xiaotie remained completely absent from the chaos. Unable to resist, Lin Ke had eventually asked about her. The teacher replied that she had been helping comfort crying children—passing tissues one moment, delivering water the next—so busy she barely had time to stop.

The teacher had even sent a photo. In it, the three-and-a-half-year-old girl was bent over, carefully wiping tears from another little girl’s face, looking gentle and serious.

Now it seemed her worries really had been unnecessary. Aside from being a little mischievous, this daughter of hers had never made others worry too much.

Inside the schoolyard, Si Xiaotie caught sight of her mother and instantly lit up with a bright smile as she ran over.

“Mommy!”

Lin Ke caught her in her arms, crouched down to stroke her face, and smiled gently. “How was your day, baby?”

Si Xiaotie blinked her big eyes and furrowed her tiny brows. “Mommy, there are so many crybaby kids in kindergarten. The teachers were too busy, and the noise made my head hurt.”

Lin Ke laughed softly. “So Xiaotie helped the teachers comfort the other children, right?”

“Yes! Otherwise Yuan Yuan and I wouldn’t have been able to sleep.” Her cheeks puffed up with a healthy rosy glow, like peaches kissed by spring wind—plump and pink.

“Baby is amazing.” Lin Ke praised her, then took her small hand. “Come on, let’s go home.”

“Yay~ Going home~”

But before heading home, they first needed to stop by the market.

Usually the housekeeper bought groceries, so Si Xiaotie asked curiously, “Mommy, are we buying vegetables today?”

“Mhm. Daddy’s coming back.”

The little girl instantly brightened. “Really?!”

“Really. But Daddy still has work, so he’ll get home later.”

“Yay, yay!”

Three people couldn’t eat that much, so Lin Ke bought some vegetables and beef, then headed over to pick fresh shrimp. Si Xiaotie loved shrimp and could eat several in one sitting.

The seafood shop had a full selection. After asking about the prices, Lin Ke carefully picked them one by one.

When she turned around after finishing, she saw the little girl crouched in front of a tank, reaching her hand inside to grab a crab. Alarmed, Lin Ke reacted quickly and intercepted the tiny hand.

“Baby, you can’t grab that!”

Si Xiaotie looked up, her bright eyes full of confusion. “Why?”

“Crabs have spikes and big claws. They can hurt you.”

“Okay then…”

The little girl pouted and stood up. After confirming she wouldn’t touch anything recklessly again, Lin Ke accepted the weighed shrimp and paid for them.

But when she turned around again, Si Xiaotie had somehow already wandered a few steps away.

At that moment, the little girl was proudly holding a slippery eel in her hand. Squinting with delight, she grinned brightly, her childish voice filled with pride.

“Mommy, this snake doesn’t have spikes or big claws. I caught it!”

“…”

Lin Ke sighed helplessly. “Baby, that’s not a snake. Put it down quickly.”

“Huh?” She poked the eel’s head with her other hand while it struggled helplessly in her grip. “It’s not a snake?”

Disappointed again, Si Xiaotie put the eel back. Then her eyes suddenly lit up.

“Mommy, can I keep a snake then?”

Lin Ke refused almost immediately, though her tone remained gentle. “No, baby. Mommy is afraid of snakes, so we can’t keep one.”

“Then…” The little girl’s sparkling eyes shifted toward the crab she’d been eyeing earlier. “I want to keep a big crab!”

“…Okay.”

In the end, the shop owner kindly helped them pick two lively crabs and carefully tied them up with string.

And so, the little girl hugged the two crabs all the way home, asking endless questions. One moment she wanted to know what crabs ate, the next she asked whether there was already a home for crabs in their house. Lin Ke struggled to keep up with her.

The moment they got home, Si Xiaotie kicked off her little shoes and sent them flying. Wearing only socks, she carried the two crabs and ran inside with energetic little stomps.

“Grandma Chen, come look at my little pets!”

Behind her, Lin Ke bent down to pick up the shoes. Turning one over, she finally noticed that the hole-filled clogs covered in decorative “gems” that morning were now completely bare.

Raising her voice, she called out, “Si Lezhen, where are your gems?”

The little girl’s loud and energetic reply came from the kitchen.

“Yuan Yuan and Gu Yiyi liked my gems, so I gave them all away!”

Lin Ke laughed helplessly and placed the shoes neatly before walking inside.

She first arranged the bouquet of pink autumn chrysanthemums she had bought on the way home into a vase, then washed her hands and entered the kitchen to cook.

“Aunt Chen, could you help me prepare the shrimp?”

“Sure.”

Her cooking tasted decent enough, but she definitely wasn’t a qualified chef.

She didn’t dare kill fish, and she definitely didn’t dare remove the veins from lively jumping shrimp. If Aunt Chen wasn’t around, then Si Xiaotie would only be getting boiled shrimp.

Si Yuming failed to return on time. Lin Ke didn’t make her daughter wait, so the two of them started dinner first.

Si Xiaotie was already used to having dinner without her father. After asking about him twice, she happily continued eating.

It was nearly eight o’clock when the doorbell finally rang.

Lin Ke was about to answer it when the little girl, who had been playing with the crabs in the living room, ran over first while shouting excitedly:

“It’s Daddy!”

The moment the door opened, it really was him.

Si Xiaotie hugged the man’s leg tightly, calling out “Daddy!” in a loud, bright voice.

Si Yuming first glanced toward the woman in the kitchen. After their eyes met briefly, he bent down and picked up his daughter, tapping her nose lightly. A smile bloomed across the face that was usually cold and emotionless.

“Did you miss Daddy?”

“Yes~ Did Daddy miss baby too?”

“Yes.”

Then Si Xiaotie said excitedly, “Daddy, let’s take Xiao Huang and Xiao Qing for a walk!”

Si Yuming didn’t quite understand. “Xiao Huang and Xiao Qing?”

“That’s right!” Si Xiaotie led him proudly into the living room and generously displayed the two crabs inside a temporary box. Their bindings had already been removed, but long strings had been tied onto them in preparation for being walked around.

“These are my babies~”